

'^'Pr'^'S^^''^-^nw^^ 



420 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



July 28, l§di. 



wire supports, but plant all varieties that 

 need about the sainet amount of supjKjrts 

 on a bed together. 



While all - the above suggestions are 

 worthy of consideration they are, of 

 course, second in importance and must 

 be subject to tjie temperatures required 

 by the different varieties. This last is 

 by far the most important in deciding 

 where to plant each variety. 



If you plant all your carnations early 

 it does not make a great deal of dif- 

 ference which variety you plant first, 

 but if you plant some early and some 

 late you should pick out the heavy and 

 slower growers to plant first. Such va- 

 rieties as grow wiry and rapidly will 

 recover quicker and will bear late plant- 

 ing better than Lawson and such va- 

 rieties. 



Another thing which should have much 

 to do with the time you plant, is the 

 condition of the growth. If you have 

 had much rain and the plants are grow- 

 ing rapidly I would advise you to wait 

 until they have passed through a short 

 dry spell, which wall ripen the growth 

 somewhat and lees wilting will re«ult. 

 A few years ago we made a practice of 

 waiting for a rain and digging our car- 

 nations as soon as po.ssiblo afterward, 

 because it is usually cooler for a few 

 days. In some soils this is necessary' 

 in order to get the roots up without tear- 

 ing them too much. Our .«'oil is sandy 

 enough to crumble, whether it is moist or 

 dry, and we have no trouble in securing 

 all of the roots. We find that after 

 a week or so of drouth the plants are 

 in shape so they will wilt very little 

 and the roots, as soon as they are set in 

 the moist soil, freshen up and take hold 

 at once. 



Be sure and see that the soil is in a 

 proper state of moisture when you plant. 

 The day before you intend to plant ex- 

 amine the soil carefully and if it is too 

 dry give it enough water so that when 

 you plant it will bo about as moist as it 

 shoidd be used for potting; moist 

 enough so it will not shrivel the roots 

 and yet not wet enough to be packy. 

 If it is too wet when you plant you 

 will find that it will quickly sour ami 

 turn green on the surface, often caus- 

 ing stem-rot and other diseases. The 

 j>lant8 will not thrive as they should 

 after the soil has been handled too wet. 



Fumigating. 



An inquiry has conu> to me regarding 

 the best way to burn the To-l)ak-ine 

 fumigating |>owder and as there may be 

 others who may benefit by our experi- 

 ence I will answer in this way: Take 

 a piece of heavy tin, the heavier the 

 better, al»ut 10x18 inches. Bend about 

 two inches at each end so it will pojnt 

 upward and outward. Then take a piece 

 of wire fly-screen the same size as the 

 tin and lay it over the tin and bend 

 the ends down and under -o it will be 

 hooked securely. On this screen lay a 

 piece of paper sprinkled with kerosene, 

 on top of which spread the fumigating 

 powder, one-half to one ]X)und, and light 

 around the edges. If the tin is not stiff 

 enough to hold the wire screen up in the 

 middle you v&n punch two or three holes 

 in the tin at each end and run pieces 

 of heavy wire through .ind under the 

 screen, or you can lay something non- 

 combustible between the tin and the 

 screen. The screen beinjr raised allowrs a 

 good draft, which is not possible when 

 the powder is spread on a solid piece of 

 tin. Burned in this way you will find 



this powder very effective in destroying 

 green and black aphis and much less 

 liarmful to the plants than burning to- 

 bacco stems during this hot weather. 



A. F. J. Baur. 



PLANTS AND SOIL. 



Should I buy field-grown carnation 

 plants or those from 3^-inch pots for 

 shipment to southern Texas? What I 

 want is the safest stock to plant here 

 about August 10, to bloom about Decem- 

 ber 10. Would you advise leaf-mold 

 fresh from the woods in preference to a 

 stiff loam from the garden that has been 

 cultivated several years and which had a 

 liberal dressing of manure last spring? 



A. W. K. 



There is no reason why carnation 

 plants from the field, if packed careful- 

 ly, should not carry to your city in good 

 condition. Any of the up-to-date carna- 

 tion growers will know how to pack them 

 for long distance shipping and there are 



DRYING OFF STOCK. 



Roses, such as Bride and Bridesmaid, 

 which are to be carried over for an- 

 other season 's work, should now receive 

 the treatment necessary to fit them for 

 this purpose. As the necessarj' elements 

 to sustain another year's growth will be 

 partly exhausted and the soil, by reason 

 of last season 'b feeding, will have become 

 overcharged with salts, which are detri- 

 mental to the health of the plants, a 

 removal of as much of this soil as can be 

 done with safety to the roots is advisa- 

 ble. In order to accomplish this with 

 as little injury to the plants as possible 

 the stock should be brought into a state 

 of partial rest. 



Tills can be done by gradually with- 

 holding water from the roots, giving am- 

 ple ventilation both night and day and 

 using the syringe to keep spider in check 

 while the ripening is going on, as any 

 injury to the foliage .luring this process 

 is just as detrimental to the health of 

 the plants as when they are in full 

 vigor. Care must be taken not to dry 

 tliem so much that the leaves will shrivel 

 or the young wood wilt during very 

 bright weather. In two or three? weeks 

 with this kind of treatment they will 

 be ripe enough to be operated on. 



Carefully remove all the small blind 

 wood and cut back the strong shoots to 

 five or six eyes. Then- remove as much 

 of the surface soil as can possibly be 

 done without injuring the roots. The 



a number of them who can lay them down 

 in your city within four days after 

 packing. Order as close to home as you 

 can. Plants from 3% -inch pots would, 

 of course, stand the journey somewhat 

 better and if you can be sure that you 

 will get first-class, well-branched plants 

 it would no doubt pay you to get them. 

 They will suffer less and will take hold 

 better than the others, but I doubt 

 whether you will get as good plants as 

 you would from the field. 



Don 't use leaf -mold for growing carna- 

 tions. A good heavy friable warn' is 

 what you want. You should have begun 

 preparing your soil last fall, or at least 

 in the spring, but if your garden soil is 

 in good mechanical coAdition it may raise 

 fair carnations. I would advise you to 

 mix either some old cow manure with it, 

 about one part manure to four of soil, or 

 a bushel of sheep manure to a cubic yard 

 of soil. If there has been no crop grow- 

 ing on it this summer the dressing of 

 manure you gave it last spring may be 

 sufficient. A. F. J. Bauk. 



surface should then be aprinkl«Ml with air- 

 slaked lime and the bench filled up again 

 with a compost of about equal parts of 

 we'll rotted cow manure and good fibrous 

 sod. 



The bench should then get a thorough 

 soaking, after which for the first week 

 a cool, close atmosphere ohould be main- 

 tained when possible. During the night 

 the ventilators can be nearly fully open, 

 thus retarding the breaking of the eyes 

 until root action has again been estab- 

 lished. 



By tying the stronger growths in a 

 horizontal position the buds which are 

 at the ba.sc of the stem and in a dormant 

 state will be encouraged to oreak and 

 form nice shoots. Frequent and light 

 syringing, while helping to keep the 

 house cool, will also, by keeping the 

 air moist, hasten the breaking of eyes. 

 As the leaves develop and mn young 

 gro^vths begin to reach, ventilation should 

 be increased and watering be resumed. 



RiBES. 



LARVAE. 



Enclosed I send some leaves from my 

 rose plants. You will .?ee the injury 

 of some insect. Please tell me what it 

 is and how to combat n. C. H. 



Judging from the quality of leaves en- 

 closed, I would say you are having good 

 success in your efforts as a grower. The 

 pest which is creating havoc with the 

 foliage is the larvae of one of the saw- 

 flies and, as it assumes the pupal state 

 in a little over a week, its depredations 

 will soon cease. As it works mostly 

 at night it is rather difficult to find. 

 Dusting the leaves with pyretbnim pow- 



